Paul Shannon's Code Smell Clinic

Computer Scientists and Software Developers love analogies. You’ll find that the Agile fraternity love metaphors and double meanings more than any other breed of software developer. A Code Smell is one of the most obvious metaphors and comes from the instinctive reaction to bad smelling food – a primordial reaction to tell you that the food is bad, of low quality and should not be eaten. While smelly code might not poison you it can turn the stomach once you’ve honed your software craftsmanship skills. We’ll begin the session with an overview of some of the more common code smells. Bring your argument hats, as some of these points are going to be controversial.

Paul premiered his talk at XP Manchester early last year and also performed it at Agile Staffordshire where they found that the Code Smell Clinic was a good idea – like group therapy/free consultancy

There will also be drinks and after the talk everyone is welcome to join us at the pub round the corner. Plus, a free t-shirt for everyone!

Please note that entry will be via the rear door of the office situated in Clifton Street.

We feel it is now our turn to give back to the community and as such we will be hosting free independent, semi-regular evening events at our office, called Devs in the ‘ditch, and we’d like everyone to come along.

We’re planning to host talks from members of the team, many of which have held the same or similar talks at other events including the QCon London andSoftware Craftsmanship and also hosting other members of the community.